ISMA'09 Keynote Speakers

Abstract:

Robotics is rapidly expanding into human environments and vigorously engaged in its new emerging challenges. Interacting, exploring, and working with humans, the new generation of robots will increasingly touch people and their lives. The successful introduction of robots in human environments will rely on the evelopment of competent and practical systems that are dependable, safe, and easy to use. This resentation focuses on the effort to develop human-friendly robotic systems that combine the essential haracteristics of safety, human-compatibility, and performance. In the area of human-friendly robot design, we present new design concepts for the development of intrinsically safe robotic systems that possess the requisite capabilities and performance to interact and work with humans. In human-motion synthesis, our exploration has employed models of human musculoskeletal dynamics and used extensive experimental studies of human subjects with motion capture techniques. This investigation has revealed the dominant role physiological characteristics play in shaping human motion. Using these characteristics we develop generic motion behaviors that efficiently and effectively encode some basic human motion behaviors. To implement these behaviors on robots with complex human-like structures, we developed a whole-body task-oriented control structure that addresses dynamics in the context of multiple tasks, multi-point contacts, and multiple constraints. The performance and effectiveness of this approach are demonstrated through extensive robot dynamic simulations and implementations on physical robots for experimental validation.

Biography:

Oussama Khatib received his Doctorate degree in Electrical Engineering from Sup'Aero, Toulouse, France, in 1980. He is Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University. His current research, which focuses on human-centered robotics, is concerned with human motion synthesis, humanoid robotics, haptic teleoperation, medical robotics, and human-friendly robot design. His research in these areas builds on a large body of studies he pursued over the past 25 years and published in over 200 contributions. Professor Khatib has delivered over 50 keynote presentations and several hundreds of colloquia and seminars at institutions around the world. He is Co-Editor of the STAR series, the Springer Handbook of Robotics, and has served on the Advisory and Editorial Boards of prestigious institutions and journals, as well as Chair or Co-Chair for numerous international conferences. He is a Fellow of IEEE and has served RAS as a Distinguished Lecturer and as a member of the Administrative Committee. Professor Khatib is the President of the International Foundation of Robotics Research (IFRR) and a recipient of the Japan Robot Association (JARA) Award in Research and Development.

Abstract:

As robots progress out of the laboratory and into civilization, it becomes important to ensure that they perform in ways consistent with our ethical expectations. This applies to robotic domains ranging from the battlefield to the household. In this talk, specific robot architectural design recommendations are presented for (1) post facto suppression of unethical behavior through the use of an ethical governor, (2) the use of a behavioral design methodology that incorporates ethical constraints from the onset, (3) the use of affective functions that serve as an adaptive component in the event of unethical action, and (4) a mechanism in support of identifying and advising operators regarding their ultimate responsibility for the deployment of such systems.

Without loss of generality, specific examples are drawn from the potential use of lethal force by autonomous robots developed for the military. As weaponized robotic systems are being introduced into the battlefield at an ever increasing pace, the consequences of this technological progress need to be examined carefully and presently. In this talk, I outline the philosophical basis, motivation, theory, and design recommendations for the implementation of an ethical control and reasoning system potentially suitable for constraining lethal actions in an autonomous robotic system so that they fall within the ethical bounds prescribed by the Laws of War and Rules of Engagement, which serve as internationally agreed upon ethical norms. Results obtained to date are surveyed. The implications and the generalizability of this research for other robotic domains is also considered.

Biography:

Ronald C. Arkin received the B.S. Degree from the University of Michigan, the M.S. Degree from Stevens Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1987. He then assumed the position of Assistant Professor in the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology where he now holds the rank of Regents' Professor and is the Director of the Mobile Robot Laboratory. He also serves as the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Computing at Georgia Tech since October 2008. During 1997-98, Professor Arkin served as STINT visiting Professor at the Centre for Autonomous Systems at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. From June-September 2005, Prof. Arkin held a Sabbatical Chair at the Sony Intelligence Dynamics Laboratory in Tokyo, Japan and then served as a member of the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Group at LAAS/CNRS in Toulouse, France from October 2005-August 2006.

Dr. Arkin's research interests include behavior-based reactive control and action-oriented perception for mobile robots and unmanned aerial vehicles, hybrid deliberative/reactive software architectures, robot survivability, multiagent robotic systems, biorobotics, human-robot interaction, robot ethics, and learning in autonomous systems. He has over 170 technical publications in these areas. Prof. Arkin has written a textbook entitled Behavior-Based Robotics published by MIT Press in May 1998 and has co-edited (with G. Bekey) a book entitled Robot Colonies published in 1997. Funding sources have included the National Science Foundation, DARPA, U.S. Army, Savannah River Technology Center, Honda R&D, C.S. Draper Laboratory, SAIC, NAVAIR, and the Office of Naval Research. Dr. Arkin serves/served as an Associate Editor for IEEE Intelligent Systems , International Journal of Social Robots, and the Journal of Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing, as a member of the Editorial Boards of Autonomous Robots, Machine Intelligence and Robotic Control, Journal of Intelligent Service Robotics, Journal of Field Robotics, International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems, and the Journal of Applied Intelligence and is the Series Editor for the MIT Press book series Intelligent Robotics and Autonomous Agents. He also serves/served as a consultant for several major companies in the area of intelligent robotic systems. Prof. Arkin was elected to serve two consecutive 3 year terms on the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society in both 1999 and 2002, serves as the co-chair of the IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Robot Ethics, and also served on the National Science Foundation's Robotics Council from 2001-2002. In 2001, he received the Outstanding Senior Faculty Research Award from the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. He was elected a Fellow of the IEEE in 2003, and is a member of AAAI and ACM.

Abstract:

Resonance and anti-resonance are mystifying phenomena. Resonance in engineering mostly has a negative connotation – something to be avoided. Of course, without resonance we wouldn’t have radio, television, music, or swings on playgrounds, but mostly resonance brings to mind its dark side – it can cause a bridge to collapse or a helicopter to fly apart. But there is another side to resonance – a positive side; it can be exploited to achieve energy efficiency, a challenge we all face in our work as mechatronics engineers. Anti-resonance brings to mind tuned mass-damper systems on upper floors that quiet lively buildings excited by the wind. As the wind buffets the building, it stays still as the mass-damper system oscillates.
There are no free lunches in design; there is always a tradeoff. The best path to good design is to become aware of these tradeoffs, assess the effects of these tradeoffs through modeling and analysis, and then make an intelligent choice based on what you need. A goal for mechatronic motion systems is high motion quality – high resolution, precision, accuracy, and speed – as well as robustness to system changes and energy efficiency. Compliance is always present in real systems. It can be parasitic and degrade motion, but it also can be used to significantly enhance motion quality and possibly energy efficiency. The difficluty arises when it is not modeled effectively or simply ignored.
Through real-world examples and time-tested design practices, this presentation will give a comprehensive view of compliance in mechatronic motion systems. Designs in nature often exploit compliance, while man-made designs often avoid compliance. As long as the compliance in the system design is captured in the model, high quality motion, robustness, and possibly energy efficiency can be achieved with the aid of compliance – a friend! Compliance is a foe when it is not understood and accounted for in the system design. Ignoring inherent compliance or avoiding using compliance to one’s advantage makes compliance a foe!

Biography:

Kevin Craig graduated from Xavier, a Jesuit HS in NYC, NY. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, and graduated with a B.S. degree and a commission as an officer in the U.S. Army. He received the M.S., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University, NYC, NY. He worked in industry as a mechanical engineer in the mechanical-nuclear design department of a major engineering firm in NYC and taught and received tenure at both the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and Hofstra University. In 1989, he joined the faculty at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. At Rensselaer, he served as Associate Chair for Graduate Studies in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, as Chair of the Engineering Science Interdisciplinary Program, and as Director of Core Engineering for the School of Engineering. As a tenured full professor of mechanical engineering, he taught and performed research in the areas of mechatronic system design, control systems, modeling, dynamics, and the study of active materials and their application in design. He developed the Mechatronics Program at Rensselaer which included an extensive teaching and research laboratory and several senior-undergraduate and graduate-level courses in mechatronics. During his 18 years at Rensselaer, he graduated 36 M.S. students and 20 Ph.D. students. He is the author of over 30 refereed journal articles and over 50 refereed conference papers. Emphasis in all his research is on a balance between theory and practice, between analysis and hardware implementation.
He currently writes a monthly column for Design News magazine on mechatronics. Over the past dozen years, he has conducted hands-on, integrated, customized, mechatronics workshops for practicing engineers at Xerox, Procter & Gamble, Pitney Bowes, Dana, Fiat, Plug Power Fuel Cells, NASA Kennedy Space Center, U.S. Army ARDEC, Dade Behring, and for the ASME Professional Development Program. He is a Fellow of the ASME and a member of the IEEE and ASEE. He received the 2006 RPI School of Engineering Education Excellence Award and the 2006 RPI Trustees’ Outstanding Teacher Award.
In January 2008, he joined the faculty of the Marquette University College of Engineering as a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and as the Robert C. Greenheck Chair in Engineering Design, a $5 million endowed chair.